Currently, my toddler wakes up too early. He used to wake up around 7–7:30, which is a wholly reasonable time to awaken. Recently things have changed, and I’m ready to fix it. When W would start to wake up steadily earlier in the past (6 then 5:30 then 5), it was always because of a sleep deficit. Always.
Every time this happened when W was between 1 and 2.4 years old (as he is now), there was a simple solution: One radically early bedtime.
I’d put him down an hour or an hour and a half before his normal time, he’d sleep in late (12 or 13 hours), make up for lost sleep, and get out of the overtired vortex.
It has worked each and every time…until now.
The other night, I tried to get him down by 7, thinking it would make the difference. W absolutely would not go to sleep. He stayed in his bed and sang to himself for a half an hour before he demanded I come back in there, and get him something to eat. Finally he went to sleep without issue at 8:40. Sigh. Then he got up at 6:15. Double sigh.
Every other time he has been in an over tired vortex, he seemed grateful for an early bedtime.
I’ve read everything there is to read about sleep, including, but not limited to The Baby Whisperer, Ferber’s book, countless blogs, and Weissbluth. They all agree that a too-late bedtime or poor naps lead to early wakeup calls and crankiness.
On the other hand, a 2.5 year old’s daily sleep requirement drops to 12-13 hours a day, including naps. If W sleeps about 10 hours at night and about 2 by day this could mean (gasp!) I’m going to have to get used to early mornings. That, or “adult” time at night is now a thing of the past.
If you are experiencing the same problem, here are some tips that I’ve assembled from the experts.
- Try *one* much earlier bedtime to help your child make up for lost sleep and “reset.” This has truly worked for me every other time, and you should try it. (If you do it more than once, your kid will start getting up early to match the earlier bedtime.)
- Make sure your child gets a good nap. Sleep begets sleep!
- Attempt wake-to-sleep. That’s when you wake your child at a random time (say, midnight) to reset his sleep rhythms. That worked when W was younger. He’ll roll back over.
- Set an alarm that shows when your child is “allowed” to get up. I’m trying this starting tomorrow.
- Accept defeat. You might want to sleep in, but if you have happy, healthy, well-rested child, you’ll just have to turn in early.
Q: What have you done to get your toddler to sleep in?